28 September 2016

Just a quick note to say that due to unforseen technical issues (i.e. an out of service laptop), there may be a delay in dealing with submissions. Apologies and similar sentiments but we shall try to be back on top of things as soon as humanly possible.

22 September 2016

Ok, ok, I am reviewing it already!Over the last few months I have been asked
when am I going to review the seventeenth studio album by Thee Oh Sees.It has been an aim to be honest, but there have
been other things happening since and stuff for the blog; but I have done it so
the emails can stop!But enough about my
life and let us have a quick look at who the smeg are Thee Oh Sees.Originally named Orinoka Crash Suite, the
band were originally formed as an off-shot of Coachwhips and Zeigenbock Kopf for
John Dwyer and over time it has become his main band as the other projects
split up.Thee Oh Sees themselves have went on hiatus,
lost member and at present are currently playing with two drummers – the full
line up of the band is Mr Dwyer on vocals, guitars and keyboard, Tim Hellman on
bass with Ryan Moutinho & Dan Rincon on drums.The cover for this album is trippy and
surreal, sometimes that is enough for me in an album.But what of the music, what does this album
sound like?01 – Dead Man’s GunThis song starts off with a tight bass & drum combo and the occasional drop
of a single note from the guitar, lyrics are spat out with either angelic grace
or terminal velocity and venom.It
erupts every now and then into a Garage/Punk explosion and it sounds like it
has a lot of pomp and flair being handled with expert hand and in a demonic and
playful way.It is a subtle introduction
to the band and album, it does the right amount of everything to get your
attention and it is not just all out rock.02 – Ticklish WarriorNow this song sounds as if it is aching for a fight with a riff that could go
on forever and ever, a drum performance that sounds like thunder and cannons, a
bass that holds it all together and the total value of all these piece &
the vocals that once again are shouted out with ferocity and command attention
is a sure winner in my books – song of the album without a shadow of a doubt.03 – Jammed EntranceStarting with strange noises, the occasional drum roll and gaps of silence
before it hits into another measured and direct garage punk combo that will
have people in rapture when they hear it.The guitar noises sound like they are being made by a host of machines and
robots, giving this song a drone and mechanical feeling.It is a song that you could easily be lost in
as it waxes, peaks and troughs around the speaker and the listener.04 – Plastic PlantThis song sounds as if it is aiming to become the long lost track from The Who,
mixed in with some Kraftwerk as well; it is a perfect example of Kraut-rock in
the modern era, with a driven and dynamic core and some rough garage edges the
invite the listener to basically lose any cool they had in the first instance
and smashing the shit out of the dancefloor.A sonic twin to ‘Dead Man’s Gun’ with a large dose of attitude and a
fantastic amount of noise, passion and soul.05 – Gelatinous Cube This is (to paraphrase Kurt Cobain when he was asked about ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’) sounds like
they are trying to rip off the Cramps.It is a noisy number, pure garage, rock ‘n’ roll adrenaline that the
Cramps, Rocket From The Crypt, MC5 and others have done for years.At the beginning, it sounded like we were
going to get ‘Iron Man’ once more, as the tone was very Black Sabbath.For all intents and purposes, this song is
just a little number that is easily wrote off and it should be ignored at your
peril and it is fucking fantastic at being an out & out, high adrenaline
rock ‘n’ roll swaggering number that hits all the right spots.06 – Under Wrap The Fiend Part 2.Another instrumental track, this time it is a little gentler on the soul with
just as much effect as other tracks on this album.You lose yourself to the music and follow
them wherever you may go and however the music will take you.With long passages of noise, reverb, bass
rumbles, sudden explosions and quiet contemplation, it really does tick all the
boxes for me.It combines both sides of
this band in terms of volume and it has never gotten old or repetitive since I
first heard it.07 – Crawling Out From The Fall OutThe penultimate song on this album is also the longest song of the record as
well, coming in at seven minutes and fifty-one seconds.Starting with a light cymbal take and then
gentle drums, strings and low reverb, ‘Crawling
Out From The Fall Out’ is a track that is not going to be rushed.It is taking its time to reveal itself to you
and patience is as ever the virtue whilst listening to this song.With long passages of drone, sporadic vocals
every now and then, a slow drum beat the you can truly relax into, this song is
one that is not going to be for everyone.For some people, it might be a bit too slow and not have the excitement
of other tracks; for me, I like it as it gives you a pause before the end and
shows yet another side to this band.It
is not my favourite song on the album, but I do not dislike it either.08 – The AxisEnding the album with another droning number that is slower than the beginning
of the record, this is something that I fully understand and it is in these
moments that I find myself appreciating the band a hell of a lot more.It is a song about leaving a person and
moving on, the music is a slow and sombre affair, an organ is heavy in the
performance and the noise at the end is as loud as any frantic riff you will
hear on this album that helps the song come to a noises end for the guitars as
everything else stays on the same beautiful path.It shows that they know when to make it
larger than life and when to keep it simple and graceful.A brilliant ending to this album, just
beautiful.Thee Oh Sees have created one of the best Garage Rock albums of 2016 and it
could be one of the best albums of this year.It is one that does not hide behind any fashions, any false statements
and it sounds like it would have been a blast to be around the band as they
were recording this.With two
instrumentals, maybe one song I was not too into and a variety of styles, it
keeps your attention and it gets better with further performances.A dark horse for album of the year?Maybe, but it has a lot of competition;
however, it will be in the conversation for one of the best albums of 2016 and
that is nothing to be ashamed about.9 out of ten – Almost perfect, almost…..You can purchase A Weird Exits on Amazon here.You can visit the Thee Oh Sees website here.You can follow the activities of Thee Oh Sees on Facebook here.At the time of writing, A Weird Exits is not available on streaming services.

21 September 2016

This is the second time I have
reviewed Baby Scream after I had reviewed 'Fan
Fan Fan' (review cleverly linked here) in January 2016, I found their sound
to be really refreshing and I have actually returned to 'Fan Fan Fan' quite a
lot when I have been wanting to listen to something that hits pop, sarcasm and
innocence (bear with me on that one), which I am sure you will agree is a hard
trio to get. Power Pop act Baby Scream are from Buenos Aires, Argentina
and have been going since 2002, their songs are sung in English and to be
honest, I have been hoping they would release something else. This EP is
currently as of writing only available on the Baby Scream Bandcamp page, with
the band aiming for a Harry Nilsson, Big Star type feel; have they achieved
that aim?

01 - Life's Better When U R High

'Life's
Better When U R High' starts the
album with an ode to being medicated (prescription or self-purchased) and how
it can sometime alleviate the pain of life and the boredom that can seep into
the world. It is a melancholy type of song, a sad lament with a beautiful
solo and the sort of tune that Baby Scream seem to be able to go in their
sleep. The mournful lyrics are really clever, the music is beautiful and
it starts off this song on a glorious (if not sad) moment.

02 - The Ballad of the Music Biz

This song is incredibly jaded,
lyrically and it sounds all the better for it! A tune about the
challenging environment that bands can find themselves in and the hardships
that can be felt when people put themselves out there and no-one is paying
attention. A symphony on acoustic guitars and lavished with strings and
sadness. It is a familiar tale that a lot of people experience, told with
pain and good grace in equal measure.

03 - Climbing Down

This song made me laugh out loud
with some of the lyrics, I am not sure that was the intent to be honest and I
do not mean it in a disrespectful way; but the opening set of lyrics about
being puked on, bodily fluids and hair pulling is a bizarre and
fascinating. But the music behind the lyrics is a luscious pop that
should be played as loud as possible, a masterpiece of satire and pop
perfection.

04 - We Can't Go Back to 17

A tale about not wanting to grow
up, the pitfalls of adulting and all that sort of thing, losing your hair,
family, loved ones and it generally sucks to have the years add up.
Again, it is a morbid set of lyrics that is added to some fantastic pop that
feels familiar and new in the same moment. It is the song that took a
little longer to get into, this might be for the minor keys in the music; but
overall it is still a great tune once you get into it.

05 - Wish You Were Beer

This is my favourite song of the
album, a mixture of They Might Be Giants, Shadowy Men On a Shadowy Planet, Ren
& Stimpy (Cartoon show) and old 70's sci-fi music. It is a clever pop
song, one that loops around your head for days and days as it tries to drain
the old worn feelings out of their collective heads. It is the nearest
this song comes to a happy place and I love that, it is just a perfect pop gem
that has me smiling every time I hear it!

06 - Jokes

'Jokes' is the shortest
song on this album (and none of the songs can be described as lengthy) and it
is one of the most heartfelt number that tells you not to give up, to speak to
friends and to take those extra steps. I love the solo on this, the
guitars are splendid and the feelings are gorgeous; if I had to nit-pick, I
just wish it was longer but that is just looking for problems.

07 - The Road Bends

This is the
penultimate song of the album; this is a rock/pop song that grows as the song
progressives into a fantastic song. It is about not bending to life,
having a destructive side and just trying to figure out what the deal with this
mortal coil. It has a great riff, a backing choir and it builds to a
massive ending that feels like it is able to keep going and going.

08 - Midnight Snack

Sadly all good things come to end and this album is no exception - but it goes
out on a chilled out guitar tune about a midnight snack of beer and weed.
It is a gentle way to end this relaxing about, it ends it perfectly with a laid
back attitude to the world and a smile hidden in the eye as well.

What a great little album, eight
fantastic tracks that are gentle on the heart and ears, easy going and they
just keep giving and it is one of the surprise releases in 2016 as it has been
on my play list ever since Baby Scream were kind enough to send a copy.
It is gentle as breeze and strong as a hurricane, it does not give more than is
required and each song is perfectly formed. If there was one point of contention,
it would be that some of the songs could have been given an extra moment or
two, but I am just looking for bad points that are not really there. I
was asked by Baby Scream to also mention that he has released a song called 'Dave'
and it was released under Baby Scream's real name Juan Pablo Mazzola. It
is a charity single that he wrote after a friend had lost her husband and to
help families in similar situations and the charity is called
music4charity. I have placed a link for the website at the bottom of the
page and I hope you check out the website, as well as checking out this album
as it is a little stunner!

8 out of ten - Oh, now you have my attention and maybe my money, time and
heart.

18 September 2016

A name I
have heard, but not one I have knowingly listened to before now. Twin
Atlantic formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 2007 and before this record have
released three previous studio albums and have shared the stage with the likes
of Blink-182, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Fall of Troy and many others. On
each release, they have gone to play bigger venues and seem to be reaching new
heights each time. As I said at the very beginning of this, I cannot
remember listening to this band before this review and this is not because of
any great hatred; how can you make an opinion on something before you have
heard it? Well, that is part of the reason I decided to review this one,
I want to make an opinion on this band. This album was produced with
Jackknife Lee who used to play in a band called Compulsion and has produced the
likes of R.E.M., Weezer. A.F.I., Bloc Party as well as pop acts such as One
Direction and Taylor Swift. So how is the album going to sound and more
importantly, will I like it?

01 – Gold
Elephant: Cherry Alligator

A strong opening which has a good riff that loops around you, lyrically a
little weak to be honest and cryptic; however, when have all rock song meant to
make sense?It reminds me a little of
Queens of the Stone Age, especially ’Feel Good Hit for The Summer’.It is good opening, gets the blood pumping
and interest is (as they would say) perked.

02 – No Sleep

it a little more of a hymn to being young, dumb, full of chemicals/booze/pills
and wrecked with self-confidence issues and paranoia.You can tell this is a Jackknife production
job, the loud sound could be spotted from out of space.It is a larger than life riff, the bass line
on this one is fantastic and it is a really good tune.This song seems to be one that is rebelling
against that monotonous lifestyle where days merge into one, it can be a lonely
existence and this song sort of attempts to capture that feeling; but the riff
is just too loud and the message gets a little lost in the noise.

03 – You Are the Devil

A doomed relationship, losing oneself and trying to escape from the car crash
that is the monument of that particular union seems to be the full behind this
song.It is another song that aims to be
loud and another anthem for the masses, but does everyone need to be that?It is a bit indie disco for my tastes and the
cynic in me is not won over, but it is well performed and much better than
bands such as Kasabian and all those clones.

04 – Overthinking

For once an anthemic song that works!It
has a glam-rock undertone to the guitar riff that reminds me of the indie-rock
version of ‘Genie in A Bottle’ mash up with The Strokes ‘Hard to Explain’, but
it has its own identity that makes it one of the stand out tracks of the
album.It is a song about self-doubt,
self-criticism, self-destruction and needing to step out of oneself every now
and then to make sense; much easier said than done, but a fantastic number that
hits all the right spots.

05 – Ex El

A tale of despair, failed relationships, being cut off from the world and being
unable to change in the face of everything.The build is better than the chorus here, it builds and then it just
sorts of loses momentum a bit.Also,
another song about trying to numb the pain and pills are mentioned once again,
which makes you worry about the person in the song.It is a dark one, but it is not a good one to
be honest.

06 – Valhalla

This is one of those numbers that will sound great in a crowd, it has a large
riff and it sounds as if it should be spectacular.But looking underneath it, I am not finding
much beneath the surface and it is a little hollow; a bit like the religious
sentiment it is trying to mock.As one
of the lines in the songs say, this isn’t working for me and it is as deep as
an Oasis song.

07 – I Am Alive

Another indie disco/anthemic attempt on this one which is falling short of the
mark for me.It has all these sections
that sound as if they should be sung by a huge crowd and these other parts
where the music is much louder than everything else around you.But it is another number which is not hitting
those spots that it is aiming for, there is not enough passion for me here to
invest in it and whilst I can appreciate the effort of the band and the way the
song has been constructed, it is making me feel a little cold.

08 – Whispers

This song is all about death and what the struggle of the human to leave behind
the world and it gets slightly philosophical, it is a slow and steady number
much in the same vein as “Many of Horror” by Biffy Clyro.It is a strange beast, in one hand it is very
deep and it has message (or query) about the grey veil and then the music is
slightly throwaway to be honest and not something that I would rush to hear;
then again, it is something I would mind being on in the background.

09 – A Scar to Hide

A slow guitar strum introduces this song and we are back into the anthemic,
slow burning number that is a signature of any Jackknife production job. This
song about asking a lover to leave as the person feels they are dragging them
down by their very existence, with a layer of strings and minimal input from
the drums and bass to be honest.Again,
much like ‘Whispers’, it reminds me of the recent output of Biffy Clyro and to
be honest, it is about as inspiring as the recent Biffy Clyro as well and that
was not a high water mark to be honest.

10 – Missing Link

I think this is the song that formed my opinion of the album.A standard indie rock number that talks about
not being able to quit stuff (pills, women, who knows) and it follows that
basic formula as used by bands like Kasabian and others.It is average, very average and not something
that really inspires me to be honest.

11 – The Chaser

Back with another glam-rock stealing/QOTSA/Kasabian hybrid and it is a song
about not being able to get your shit together, another number that makes all
the right moves and sounds like it is aiming to be anthemic once again.However, I can get behind this one as it has
a good hook and makes a lot of good noise, but it is not something that leave a
lasting impression on you after it is finished.

12 – Mothertounge

It is a hard rock ending, a song about taking a lover for granted and then
finding out that you have made a mistake.At least it sounds like it is going to be a hard rock song, but it is
just loud guitars and no drums and if there is a bass in there, it is buried
deeper that Jason Newstead on the Metallica album ‘… & Justice for
All’.Back come the strings, the loud
noise and it is sort of falls short of its goal which is sort of a fitting
ending.

This should be a little better and it should be my type of thing, but there are
two things working against it for me. One – Not everything on an album
needs to be an anthem, it needs lulls and peaks which draw the listeners in and
this album does not know how to make the distinction between when a track
should be gentle and when it should be reaching a euphoric moment. Two –
Other bands are doing this type of music and they are also doing it with more
confidence. Bear with me here, the band sound competent and for the most
part the songs are decent rock number that will keep their fans happy.
But when each song has a self-depreciative tone or is about getting high, you
have an act (of lyric writer) who needs a little help on some level. A
problem shared is a problem halves, I understand that; but it does not instil
confidence and it make you worry about them to a certain degree and hope that
they will seek professional help. It is not a bad album by any stretch of
the imagination, there are some good moments on here and with a few tweaks it could
have been good album.However, when you
have a top level producer, you would expect a little more to be honest. I think I will need to check out more of their
work at some point. It might be for the fans, but not for me to be
honest.

6 out of ten – Now I see where you were going, but it is not quite there

Life of Agony can never be accused of taking the easy route, that is something that can be said for them. It could be the fact that the...

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Album scoring system

0 - This is proof there is no deity1 - You're really are touching the bottom of the barrel with this one2 - If only there was some quality control3 - It could have been a bit better4 - Well it's alright, but still......5 -Not for everyone but played well6 - Now I see where you were going, but it's not quite there7 - This is good and well worth a check8 - Oh, now you have my attention and maybe my money, time and heart9 - Almost perfect....Almost10 - This is proof there is a deity(For albums that are too crazy to be marked)Crazy Cat symbol - This album cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens

Singles/EP Marking System

0 - Only to be listened to by people bless with the gift of being deaf1 - Not so much on the bad that it is bottom of the barrel, but it can see the stuff down there2 - Not bad, not good - so average it is Zen3 - Decent, getting there4 - This is really good, well worth checking out5 - I wish I had extra ears to love this more(For Singles/EPs that are too crazy to mark)Crazy Cat symbol - This release cannot be marked, so here is a box of kittens